By Kingsley Adegboye

A precast concrete technology described as fast-pace building system has been introduced into Nigeria’s construction industry as an initiative aimed at bridging the ever increasing housing deficit in the country. The automated precast concrete technology which is known globally for speedy housing construction, was presented by CTSR Group, a Nigerian company with franchise from Broad Homes Industrial International Co. Ltd, the promoters of the technology at the just concluded Lagos Architects’ Forum tagged LAGOS 6.0. The group is a subsidiary of Broad Homes Industrial International Co. Ltd.

According to the officials of CTSR Group, the company which offers technical services and consulting in the area of precast concrete manufacturing and construction, is a leading enterprise in precast concrete construction worldwide, pointing out that Broad Homes is specialised in providing integrated solutions of precast concrete construction for residential buildings, commercial buildings, public facilities, industrial facilities and infrastructure, for almost 20 years.

“By 2014, Broad Homes had expanded the annual production capacity up to 10 million square metres of construction area, operating 15 precast concrete factories. With the introduction of advanced precast concrete construction technology and providing expertise, Broad Homes International is engaged in helping the customers to fully understand precast concrete construction technology by delivering the smartest precast factory solution, and providing engineering services, technical consulting services and technical support in the whole life cycle of construction projects”, the officials noted,

The officials said two representatives of Broad Homes, Mr. Pradhan Kumar and Mr. Bo Huang visited Nigeria recently to reinforce their company’s partnership with CTSR Group. Presenting the technology, the Chief Executive Officer of CTSR Group, Mrs. Funke Otti said the automated precast technology is a one-stop shop for housing solutions covering research and development, design and construction.

According to Otti, the technology provides factory made sustainable buildings, featuring reinforced concrete precasting and is 5 times more efficient with its energy saving technology, explaining that the technology will deliver such advantages that will include quality through the standard manufacturing and assembly processes, predictable schedule and on time delivery which will result in cost savings by reducing market risks and variables.

She added that the technology was originally from Germany and that the CTSR’s Chinese technical partners simplified the process and made it more affordable. She said her company intends to revolutionalise housing construction, explaining that to do this, they will initiate a new city development with affordable high-rise apartment buildings. Mrs. Otti informed that the technology can enable construction go up to 30 floors and save up to 70 per cent of construction time when compared to the traditional construction processes.

According to her, setting up the factory is capital intensive but, the cost of not adopting the technology, which has been widely adopted in other parts of the world, could be counter-productive to the set goals. “The initial stake is quite high but we have decided to take the bull by the horn. We believe we need to develop our people and add value to the built environment. This is the reason we have decided to set up a factory here, which is currently under construction.